Capital City Trust Co. FL Has $535,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,824 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 181.8% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 6,952 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,293 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $181,000. Heritage Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $387,000. Finally, BDO Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,701,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 72.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

MRK stock opened at $112.33 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $107.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.05 and a fifty-two week high of $115.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.34.

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Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.47% and a net margin of 24.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 51.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total value of $535,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,734,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 16,251 shares of company stock valued at $1,736,570 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.